Hi! I just discovered this website a few days ago, and have been having an awesome time with it. I love to write, but I always get started with something and then lose focus pretty quickly. I'm new to rpg's, so if I messed up, sorry, I'm still learning. I was still figuring out how to save and whatnot at the beginning, so I lost some of the rolls I did at the beginning of the story. Plus, I'm realizing now that I was using the note box to ask the questions, whereas most people seem to put
the questions in the text story itself, which makes sense. I put what I had as notes at the end in case you were interested in seeing them. I'm sure there are a lot of other cool things I'll learn about this
game as I go. And please give me any ideas or suggestions that come to mind!
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Lulu blew on her paper party horn, which unfurled slowly. It was old, crackly, with little holes in it that let air out and had a weak honk at the end. She felt that this was appropriate because 2051 was that kind of year. Every year since the end of the War of the Fey, three years before, had been like that.

She was leaning against the fire escape, hoping to see some fireworks, but most of the city still barely had electricity and few had it in them to celebrate. The closest that she could see to fireworks was the ever present blue flickering of the portals near the river. A reminder of why everything had changed. Not exactly a comforting sight.

She heard a key in the front door and her room mate entered. Calvin had returned from work. She could hear him dropping his keys in the bowl by the door, and his briefcase thud to the ground.
He came over to lean against the window frame. "I come bearing a gift," he said, holding out a bottle of golden amber liquid.

"How did you get this?" she asked in surprise, "Elven wine is restricted."

"I know a troll in customs who owed me a favor," Calvin said dismissively. "How was your day?" he continued with overly intent interest in the cork he was trying to draw from the bottle.

Lulu looked down at her hands pensively. "I went to the junk yards to look for scrap. Picked up some army surplus. Old machine gun that could be fixed, some caltrops. Probably could make... 20 gold in the black market."

Calvin hesitated before he poured the wine. "Iron weapons are prohibited. I should be reporting you," he noted.

Lulu held out her wrists. "Take me away officer. It was only a matter of time."

Calvin looked at her in that cool inhuman way that Lulu had learned to read as amusement, and for a moment the light caught his eyes and they looked as golden as the bottle of nectar wine he held before he tilted his head to sip the wine and they returned to more sedate brown. He raised his glass as if in a toast. "I won't tell if you won't.

“I’ll drink to that,” said Lulu. "Happy new year."
_____________________________________________________________--

G.O.L.E.M. stands for GnomeTec Operations Logic Enabled Machine. Golem 3986 was from the 3.2 series meaning it was capable of rewriting its own script following the perameters it was given. It was about ten feet tall, with irregularly shaped plates which left gaps through which an almost blinding blue light was visible. Currently it was working under directives to search for and destroy any rebels remaining in the United States Commonwealth of the Fey.

Golem 3986 knelt a the crest of the hill surveying the defunct power station, approximately 200 yards away. It was surrounded by dilapidated outbuildings, abandoned work vehicles, and the detritus of 4 years of neglect. Its sensors could detect a faint power source, no more than could be expected from radiation in the inactive core. Yet certain clues at the crash site had led the Golem here. The destruction of the Elvin skyship had been an unprecedented success for the rebels, and it was still a mystery how it had been accomplished. The best guess that the Golem was that the rebels had stowed away then hijacked it. An ammo bandoleer and a uniform issued to a human officer stationed to guard the plant was found in the wreckage. It might not seem enough, but the ability of the Golem to write its own script occasionally gave it something akin to what fleshbound creatures referred to as "instinct." With no other leads, Golem had chosen listen to this instinct.

Armed with the latest in magical balistic technology, the Golem was fully capable of leveling the building at a distance. However, its orders were to bring the leader in for interrogation. Using the cover of the warehouse buildings the Golem approached confidently. There were security cameras and automated turrets at the entrance. The Golem stood still for a moment, and the blue light that emenated from between the plates pulsed brighter. For a moment a similar glow enveloped the turret and security camera, blue and cold. Then the blue was replaced by a golden fire along the powerlines. Some kind of magical warding unfamiliar to the Golem prevented it from accessing and using the system. A mere inconvenience. The Golem proceeded to send another pulse to freeze the system altogether. Much better than destroying the cameras and turrets altogether and alerting the humans inside.

The lobby of the power station had been a makeshift living quarters for quite a while. It was fairly tidy, but Golem had noticed how humans tended to accumulate objects over time attaching sentimental value to them. There was a reception counter in the center of the lobby which was covered in books. To one side were a collection a chairs around a vid screen. Sleeping mats lined another wall of the room, with personal items arranged around them. A leather jacket on one, a model spaceship next to another. Toys? Perhaps juvenile humans were also in residence.

A damaged blaster rifle had been dropped on the floor, along with a toolbox. The Golem picked up a hammer and examined it. Humans wouldn't normally leave these things laying around, particularly if they had young. Something had alerted them, and they had left abruptly. Golem observed the room more carefully, suspecting something was wrong. Using it's xray sensors the Golem examined the walls and floor, detecting an irregularity under one of the sleep mats. A hatch in the floor, no doubt leading to a bunker where employees would shelter if the nuclear core had a meltdown. The golem pulled the sleeping mat aside and reached down to open the hatch, but there was a sound behind it. Straightening up and turning, the golem saw that the vid screen had lit up, and as the Golem approached an image on the screen got larger also. It was a recording of another Golem, and it seemed to mirror 3986's own movements. The only significant difference was that the Golem in the video emitted a golden light, similar to the magic that had warded the security system. As 3986 drew closer, the other Golem seemed to move towards the camera recording it, and they both stopped at the same time. Then the Golden Golem raised it's hand and waved.

A deep rumbling came from the center of the supposedly dormant plant and within seconds became a deafening roar. There was no time to escape the building or get to the bomb shelter hatch. 3986 activated its shield and as the radioactive blast burned over it, the blue ball of light that surrounded the Golem crackled and intensified, as if drawing power from the explosion. At first it was just a circle around the Golem, until the light filled the whole lobby, supporting the structural integrity of the walls as the radioactive pulse raged beyond, flattening the plant and the small town that lay a mile away. The strain of holding the building against the forces outside caused minor damage to the Golem's circuitry, but it was negligible. Once the initial radiation cleared the shield retracted until it was just a shimmer of blue light on the outside surface of Golem's armor. The Golem turned smoothly, it's metallic steps echoing on the linoleum, and walked back to the hatch.

I started figuring out who the characters are that the Golem was trying to attack. These three are apparently the only rebels left. Maybe I'll write about how they joined up with them sometime too.

Jane
Defensive Professor

female? Yes

young? Yes, mid 30's

Skills
disguise- she is a mimic, has disguise magic. She was the Golden Goblin on the screen.

quick draw- shoots a laser blaster

Quest: She is searching for something to help defeat the Elvin army.

What is the thing that the professor is looking for that will defeat the army? ??????

Control/opulence: She sees that the Fey have a caste system, knows that humans will become another dominated underclass. This thing she is searching will erode their power base, allowing other fey to rise up against the Sidhe.
Control/travel: Or something that will stop the fey from reaching earth anymore.

Opposition:
Most immediately it is the Golem.
Long term, there is a Traitor. A human who has been bought by the Sidhe.

First thing to do or take care of: betray. Stop the traitor. Maybe the traitor took the thing that they needed?

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Gramma Nora

Obnoxious mech pilot
mechanic and pilot? Probably set up the bomb, has a line on electricity sprites. Cranky sometimes

Things:
rocket launcher (not a weapon, went with the toy spaceship, but that's gone now)
Flare gun (mom gave it to him in case they get separated)

Goal:
Take illusions: to know the truth.

Liberate city official from the fair
-government employee from the fey

opposition:
misguided hero. Maybe Calvin is reluctant to join.
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Electrical sprites: Fry-ads
obnoxious bard- they like to tell stories. No one knows if they are just obnoxious because Gramma Nora translates.

do they speak?
no, but Nora can hear them

Are there more than one?
Yes, and they like to hang out all the time.

Goal:
rescue the government official from the fortress - maybe they know who Calvin is.

I always like it when I see people using buttons I never use, either because I forget they're there, or because I don't realize what they're for. Using them to help nail down whole sets of character traits is super-cool.

(04-24-2018, 04:29 AM)Sam Wrote: I always like it when I see people using buttons I never use, either because I forget they're there, or because I don't realize what they're for. Using them to help nail down whole sets of character traits is super-cool.

Thanks, I've been having a lot of fun playing around with them. My favorites seem to be the complex question and complex description buttons. But I've been trying to figure out how to adapt the custom lists Mark made for a dungeon adventure to fit the sci-fi/fairy tale setting my characters are in. I'm putting a turn limit on them escaping from the Golem to make the chase scene I'm writing more exciting. I like how the game aspect creates more of a bias towards action. Sometimes my characters just want to sit around, and I guess I can't blame them. Adventures can be scary.

Here's my next installment. Will the rebel survivors escape from their massively overpowered foe? Who knows! I'm not even sure.

"And cut!" Gramma said, smiling a sideways grin, "That's a wrap." The golden Golem stopped waving at Gramma Nora, who was recording with a cell. Ari's mom, Jane, transformed back from the metal giant into a slim woman with wavy brown hair and a worried expression. An electrical sprite which had been sitting on the cell in Nora's hands ran up her arms and scrambled up into her short gray hair, which started to stand up with static like a crazy halo. Ari liked the sprites, which his grandma called "fry-ads." She'd told him that back in the days of the Greeks there had be many other kinds of elemental sprites, such as naiads and driads.

"Did it go through?" Jane asked. Nora didn't answer for a moment, her head cocked to the side as she listened to the fryad, her eyes twinkling. "Did it transmit to the vidscreen?" Jane asked again impatiently, crossing her arms.

Nora laughed at something the fryad said, then replied, "Yep, he was able to boost the signal, and says that the fryad in the vid screen received it fine. It'll start playing as soon as the intruder gets too close to the hatch."

Ari winced. Blocking his vision was a sudden image of the Golem, dark and menacing and wreathed with ice cold light, watching from the hillside. "It's getting closer, but it's outside the fences still," he told them steadily, and refrained from rubbing his temple.

"We don't know how much time we have," Jane said, hoisting her pack onto her shoulder and checking her blaster. "We need to get moving."

Nora, watching Ari, was no longer smiling. His small face was pale, and his dark curly hair was damp in places from sweat. "Yes, lets go."

The bunker had a second hatch at the back that led to a long concrete tunnel, lit with low emergency lighting. The air was stuffy and dry, ventilation fans and their echoing steps the only sounds. They came to a fork in the tunnel, and Nora who was leading stopped. "Which way do we go?" she asked Jane.

"I tried to look for a map," said Jane, rubbing her forehead, "But the office had been ransacked by looters, and I couldn't find anything."
"Ok," said Nora, "There are electrical wires running all over this place, maybe I can send one of the fryads to scout the route for us." Nora touched the nearest light and the fryad climbed off of her and disappeared into the current. It seemed like only a moment before the fryad reappeared. Nora held it in her cupped hands and listened to it as it shook it's tiny head and gestured dramatically. All Ari could hear was crackling, but Nora hmmmed and tutted gravely.

"It says that when this base was attacked by the fey some of the tunnels were flooded by a mage with water control. This way is flooded and there is electrical damage the other direction, so it can't tell if there is a way out." The fryad glowed brighter for a moment and sent out some sparks. Fryads felt strongly about water mages.

"Well, if that way is flooded, then we don't have much choice," said Jane grimly. They took the left corridor and continued until they reached a hatch. Nora was about to open it when Ari swayed on his feet and grabbed at a pipe along the wall. The vision overtook him and he saw the lobby of the power plant from the eyes of the golem. He could see their bedding, and saw the golem reach out and move the sleeping mat to reveal the bunker door.

There was a ringing in his ears as he came back to the dark tunnel and the worried faces of his mother and grandma. "It found the hatch," Ari said weakly, and then attempting humor told Nora, "I don't think you're going to be able to get your leather jacket back."

The sound above the bunker was like the inside of a volcano. Ari covered his ears, his brown eyes round with surprise and awe. The lights flickered, and dust fell from the ceiling. "Hopefully that will have gotten rid of it," said Jane after the roaring subsided. "It couldn't possible survive that explosion."

Ari shivered, "I don't think that was enough. I still feel it."

Nora snorted, "Figures. Those Golems leveled whole towns during the war. Not much can take them out. Hopefully we bought ourselves some time though."

Nora cranked up the circular hatch, which opened with a hiss of compressed air. A corridor led them to the right, but it was hard to tell if it was going the right way. "I can see the Golem," Ari says, his voice strained, "It went in the direction of the flood, but I think it's going to turn around."

The corridor opened up to a larger room. It was full of work stations with dials and buttons, but they all seemed to be powered down. "This couldn't have just been a power plant," said Jane, "These facilities are far too extensive. We've been sitting on top of a secret military base."

The next door slid open to reveal a room flooded with natural light. Pieces of the ceiling had caved in, and scrubby plants growing in the crevasses. Unfortunately, the gaps in the ceiling were too small for even Ari to fit through. "This is hexweed," Jane said, kneeling next to one of the vibrantly purple plants. "It's an invasive plant from Faerie. It thrives in places where there has been magical combat."

"Thanks for the botany lesson, Professor," grunted Nora as she crossed one the of the fallen concrete slabs, and reached back to help Ari over. "Perhaps, we should garden later."

Jane let out a huff of exasperation. "This collapse happened years ago, during the war, not because of our explosion. These plants would have been incinerated if we were in the blast radius. And we're lucky they aren't, because if they were dead, the radiation would be killing us right now."

"I don't feel any danger," Ari said, concentrating on the air around him.

"Good, then if we can just get to the surface we'll be ok," said Nora.

They found another door covered in strange blue lichen on the other side of the room and with some effort were able to turn the crank to open it. Another long straight corridor lay on the other side. "We need to go faster," Ari said tightly. "The Golem is getting closer and picking up speed."

Jane and Nora exchanged a look and started jogging down the hallway, Ari following doggedly behind. When they reached the next hatch, Nora immediately reached to crank it open, but Ari grabbed her hand and pointed to the floor around the door. Throughout the tunnels there had been refuse. The power plant had been a bigger opperation than they had guessed, and there had been signs of many people working and even living below ground. This riveted round hatch, though similar to the last four they had passed through, had a trail of junk leading to it. Seemingly random debris, intermixed with a few inexplicably useful items. Rusty tin cans, a wallet full of cash, a hammer, and a broken cell phone charger. It was as if someone had been carrying too many things and had just been dropping them as they walked along. Inside they heard some high pitched shrieks and metal striking metal.

Jane screwed up her face. "I think that was... goblin?"
"It seems angry, what is it saying?" said Ari. He had pulled out his flair gun, thinking that the light might temporarily blind a creature used to the darkness of the tunnels.
"Something about... not working? Broken?" said Jane. "It's using a lot of curse words, which of course they never taught in the academy."
"Will it attack us?" asked Nora.
"Maybe, goblins can be hostile to intruders, especially if they think that you are trying to steal from them. They generally have a hoard where they collect things they think valuable."
"Do they think tin cans are valuable?" asked Nora looking at the pile around the door doubtfully.

"Perhaps. If it is new to the human world, they may not have seen anything like it before." She chewed her lip. "What do we have that seems unusual, or unique? If we can convince it that it is something special, maybe we can buy safe passage."

"I've got the controller to my toy rocket," said Ari. "It was in my pocket when we ran. I guess it's no good now, but the Goblin wouldn't know." It was a small grey box with flashing green and red lights and an antenna.

Nora cranked the door open with a loud scraping and clanking. They all stood for a moment in shock when they saw the room inside. Piles of weapons filled the room. A nuclear tipped missile leaned casually against a stack of dynamite. Grenades littered the floors, and mixed liberally throughout was just about any kind of human detritus imaginable. Large carnival stuffed animals, manequins, and lots of clothing with sequins.

The goblin itself was smaller than Ari had batlike ears and had coarse brown hair everywhere. Most remarkable, was that it was also adorned in a slinky silver cocktail dress. "I feel like I'm looking at a sasquatch crossed with a disco ball," Nora murmured, and the Fryad in her hair fizzled agreement.

The goblin stared at them for a moment. "What dialect are you speaking?" she asked Jane, "I could only understand half of what you were saying."

Jane's face went very red. "I-I'm sorry, I'm not very fluent. I haven't actually, um, met any native speakers," Jane said. "We're sorry to intrude, but we're hoping we could employ you as a guide."

"I have this," Ari said earnestly holding out his rocket launcher and pushing the button. "5...4...3...2....1...Blast off!" the voice came from the little plastic controller followed by a fake launch noise.

The goblin looked at them incredulously, hands on her hips. "A toy? Are you kidding me? Get out of here and stop wasting my time."

"Hahaha," laughed Jane nervously, and tousled Ari's hair. "Oh... kids. No, that's not what we were going to trade."

"Ok," said the Goblin, "Enlighten me."

Jane looked over at Nora desperately, who just shook her head and shrugged slightly. "We have... schematics," she said reluctantly. "To the portals. You could copy them, as soon as we are out of here. But we have to go now!" she added with greater urgency. "There is a GOLEM following right behind us."

"I believe you," the Goblin said. "But I need to see the goods first."

“We don’t have time,” protested Jane, but the Goblin just held out her hand. Jane pulled her backpack off, took out a cardboard cylinder, and popped the top . She slid a parchment out the the tube, just enough to let the goblin take a look at it, but snatched it back when she reached for it. “You can see more when we are safe,” she insisted.

“Fine, fine,” said the goblin, and she started darting around the room, “Let me gather a few things. And feel free to take some weapons if you feel the need. That explosion was you, wasn't it? That's why my place is such a mess, like a bomb went off in here. Well, lucky one didn’t, actually. By the way, my name is Wubtonk. Where is my… ah, there you are."

Wubtonk emerged triumphantly with a similar cardboard tube. "I also found myself in possession of plans for the portals years ago, but mine were damaged. We can compare them."

"Great," said Nora finally, "But now we leave."

"Right, ok, this way," said Wubtonk and led the way to a metal ladder that led to a small hatch in the ceiling. The room they found themselves in was similar to the goblins dwelling below in terms of firepower, but more organized. It seemed to be an armory of some kind. Even better, it seemed to be on the ground floor of the building. There were windows in the corridor they hurried along, and Ari felt his spirits lift as he looked up at the blue sky through the glass.

The building seemed to be a military hospital, when they emerged at last into the fresh air, Nora spotted the helicopter landing pad. "Hurry, all of you. Let's go!"

She hopped into the pilots seat, and with a little jump from her fryad was able to get the rotors turning. As the helicopter gained elevation, Ari could see several miles away the burning crater of the military base they had escaped.

___________________________________________________Like before, if you like knowing how the fortunes favored my characters, here are the rolls they made. Sorry I'm too lazy to put it in the text

Will the Fryad be able to find the way for them?

No
Why not?
Triumph/ Military

Can any of them see something that can help them decide what way to go?
Yes

Do they just have to go in the opposite direction of the flooding?
Yes, but there may be damage in that direction too.

The Chase has started. How many turns do the survivors have to get out of the tunnels before the golem catches up?

+ 2 (for the head start) + 1 (for injury of Golem)

Open Hatch (+1)
Corridor turns right

Golem's turn (+1)
No, but
The Golem doesn't take the right way to start, but corrects.

Open door (+1)
Outside but not an exit.
Is it safe?
Yes, but they aren't able to reach the surface yet.

Golem's turn (-2)
Yes, and...

Open door (+1)
Corridor straight ahead

Does running help?
No

Golem's turn (-1)

Open door (+1)
Encounter (-3)
Fey Creature
Is it powerful?
2, Goblin

Is it hostile?
-2 somewhat hostile

What does the room look like?
Carelessly lethal

The Goblin has been collecting weapons from all over the military facility and tossing them in piles, not really caring that they could explode.

What is the Goblin like?
Detached female exo-dimensional being
Interestingly dry

Do they notice anything at the entrance?
Yes/ Coolly, ugly

Can they guess what it is?
Yes, but they have some misconceptions about goblins.

What is her error?
That Goblins are only concerned with making money/ riches
Attainment / Opulance

Instead the goblin cares about...
failure to travel
It wants to return to the fairyworld?
Go somewhere else at least.

Does the goblin speak english?
Yes

Does the Goblin go for the rocket launcher?
No

Will the Goblin trade for a copy of the schematics to the portals?
Yes

The next few scenes return to the characters I wrote about in the very first scene. I wanted a little backstory to explain how Calvin, an elven government agent, came to live with Lulu, who as it turns out was a POW.So all of this occurs before the previous things I've written. Sorry if that's confusing, maybe some day I'll figure out how to write in chronological order.

The detention camp was visible from a distance at night, the glowing light reaching fingers above the horizon. The self driving vehicle moved silently around the curves of the road; it's black paint sleekly reflected the stars. Calvin, leaned back and took in the silhouettes of the thick forest vegetation under the moonlight. He felt uncomfortable in the traditional attire of his house, loose flowing tunic of a subdued magenta and forest green leggings. He had to consciously refrain from fiddling with the elaborate rings on his fingers. There wasn't much to be done with his hair, which was shorter than was fashionable, reaching only long enough to cover the tips of his pointed ears, but he had swept it back. He missed his black suit and tie and his long overcoat, but the whole purpose here was to fly under the radar. He observed the dark purples and blues that painted the foliage and occasional bursts of light which hinted at bioluminescence. Perhaps a will o'wisp searching for prey to lure into the swamps.

Calvin acknowledged to himself that his fascination with the landscape had more to do with avoiding eye contact with his fellow passenger than genuine interest. Uvinali Quiari was an unsettling sight. Her eyes were pure black with no pupils. She was completely still right now, not seeming to breathe, yet she when she moved it was with the swiftness of a spider. She wore a metal helmet that concealed most of her face, a black, form fitting body suit with an arsenal of curved knives strapped to her body. He stole a glance at her out of the corner of his eye. Yes, she was still crouched on the leather seat across from him, staring at him unwavering. Chewing through the upholstery of the vehicle between them was her familiar, a skeletal rat with glowing red eyes. It's scratching and chittering noises had been the only sound for the past half hour of the journey. Calvin tried to keep his breathing steady.

"Gaeleath Fawarin," she said in her dry cracked voice, and Calvin almost jumped. "You are here in your kingdom again. It must be a great relief to return."

Calvin waited, expecting more, but she waited in silence. He cleared his throat. "Yes, Uvinali Quiari. There is much work to keep me occupied among the humans, so there is not much time to be... homesick."

"You sacrifice much, living in such squalor among their people," she said, disgust evident in her tone. "I know of no other opperant who has been embedded for so long. Why do you not seek a transfer?"

"I go where the court wills it," he said simply. "And there are those among the court who would still find my presence... inconvenient."

"Politics." Her voice was flat, and Calvin didn't think she entirely accepted his explanation. However, there was an undeniable truth to it. The power of the Fair Court depended upon the loyalty and obedience of its subjects. Any noble family who threatened to compete had their heirs sent away to be changlings in the human world. Calvin had grown up with a human family in a quiet suburb, going to school, joining boy scouts, playing sports, taking girls to dances. He had not been trained as a lord, and now would never survive the polite but deadly intrigues that would have been his duty. He was deeply grateful that his fate had been otherwise.

As they came around the next bend in the road the detention camp came fully into view. Calvin had expected fences, guard towers, maybe barracks of prisoners, not an unenclosed collection of tents surrounding a blue swirling portal. As far as Calvin understood, the fey could access different dimensions through the mechanical apparatus that opened portals. The worlds on the other side were always similar, but had different timelines. Of course, small fey children had a better education in such subjects than he did. To him it all seemed like, well, basically magic.

The car smoothly rolled to a stop and the doors opened upwards by themselves. Uvanali's rat ceased destroying the cushions and skittered up her arm to rest on her shoulder. Calvin also got out, stretching his arms above his head, which earned him a look from Uvanali. She moved fluidly and gracefully, past him and down the rows of soldiers quarters towards the portal.

"Halt!" a dwarf said, his voice muffled as they approached. He was wearing a biohazard suit, and it was hard to see his bearded face through the small square of his helmet. A white opaque dome with a sign that read "mandatory disinfection station" stood outside of the portal. "We are permitted to cross through to dimension 452," Uvanali said holding out to him the warded and signed documents.

The dwarf eyed the rat on her shoulder, and snatched the paper out of her hand. "This says that you are allowed to take one human prisoner, Lulu Mercy into your custody. All beings and possessions are required to go through sanitation procedures upon return. If disease is detected, whether contracted within the dimension or prior to entry," the dwarf paused here and looked pointedly at the rat, which did seem to have foam around his mouth, "there will be a one week minimum quarantine period."

Calvin inwardly groaned. He couldn't see much of Uvinali's expression behind her helmet, but he didn't trust the sickeningly sweet tone that came out of her mouth. "We are absolutely happy to obey your protocols, officer...?"

"Pebblefall, sir," said the dwarf.

"Pebblefall? I suppose that means you come from the Sunder Mountain region?" Calvin noticed that she was smoothly inching closer to him.

"Yes, sir." With stereotypical dwarven obstinate obliviousness, Pebblefall was now flipping through a clipboard making checkmarks.

In one fluid she was behind him with a knife to his throat. "Isn't there an expression about pebbles in ones shoe? An insignificant thing making itself an annoyance. It seems so apt now that I think of it. And what do we do with pebbles? We remove them."

"This seems like an inconvenient delay over such a minor matter," Calvin drawled. He pulled himself to his full height, trying to channel his father on the few ceremonious dinners he had been allowed, or rather required, to attend. "Killing him will just create more paperwork, and you know that's just giving these bureaucrats what they want."

Uvanali narrowed her eyes at Calvin. "No wonder the House of Fawarin has fallen so far. You would have me accept an insult from this dirt licker?" Without hesitation she sliced through the thin plastic of Pebblefall's biohazard suit. He fell to the ground clutching at his throat, blood splattering onto the visor of his suit.

Calvin swallowed back the emotions that welled to the surface, the fury and nausea. So much for flying under the radar, he thought, anger bubbling through his veins. Uvanali would not be returning from this mission.

Calvin's mission to retrieve a human prisoner of war becomes more complicated. Another malevolent character is introduced whose intentions and alliances are not entirely clear. BTW I keep forgetting Uvanali has a helmet on that covers her face. Whoops.

On the platform beneath the blue ball of light was a complex series of circles carved into the concrete, and rivulets of the blue light flowed through it. Uvanali stepped onto the platform first. Calvin had been through the portals many times, but it was still awe inspiring. The circles below were like the 2 dimensional instructions you see in an origami book. Except that they folded time and space and did so in four dimensions. As Calvin watched, the background around the energy field seemed to split apart and reform in a kaleidescope pattern of leaves, sky, tents, people. And in between the gaps there was a chilling void of darkness. Uvanali also became tesselated, one moment seeming to have eight arms, the next multiple eyes, then rat on her shoulder appeared in place of her face. Then she was gone.

Taking a deep breath, Calvin stepped onto the platform, and closed his eyes. It was better not to watch, from experience it was a good way to lose your lunch. The feeling of having his body folded and split and stretched in impossible ways was strange enough. There was a calm though, right before the final transport, and at that moment, it was as if all of the answers to his questions were right at his finger tips, but at the same time he didn't exist and he had no questions. Then there was a sudden dropping sensation, like reaching the top of a roller-coaster and plummeting down the other side.

Calvin landed on his knees in an undignified heap. It took a moment for him to suppress his urge to vomit. When he finally got to his feet he noticed that they were in a room with tall vaulted stone ceilings. The portal on this side was a stone megalith, the spacing of the stones and the images carved into them forming the same patterns as the complex circles of the fey. The elves were only able to cross over to parallel worlds that had developed the technology, which occurred in different points in the timelines of different civilizations. For the humans it happened in the druidic period. To Calvin's untrained eye, this appeared to be the equivalent of a medieval era.In contrast to the stone benches that lined the hall facing the portal, much like church pews, the back of the room was full of stainless steel lab tables and computers. Scientists, mostly elves but a smattering of other races, seemed to be busy at work, testing samples and inputting data. Uvanali was in deep conference already with a nymph woman. She was so beautiful, with long red hair past her waist, full lips that curved into a delighted smile, and she threw her head back and laughed at something Uvanali said. Uvanali had a relaxed posture that seemed unnatural on her. Calvin found himself gritting his teeth and clenching his fists. How could she laugh at Uvanali, of all people? Then he frowned in confusion. He had never met this woman before, why was he feeling this sudden surge of jealousy?

He tore his eyes off her long enough to look at the scientist around her. They too were glaring at Uvanali surreptitiously as they did their work. His heart plummeted. All of them were under thrall.Leuce

Unseelie NymphAbilities: Charm- she can make others do things for herCorruption- she will destroy the natural environment in a mile radius around her.

Goal:Develop / The publicMove / InvestmentShe is manipulating the whole population of the planet in a long term effort towards colonization.

Opposition:

Group of zombiesVoodoo priest

This sounds like Uvanali. They must have some kind of conflict, even though they seem somewhat friendly. I like this, they both create some kind of zombie, one through mind control, the other by using the dead.

What kind of conflict do they have?Decrease / A planWaste / TrialsFight / Legal matters

Leuce is there without permission from the court. She is attempting to gain control illegally, working for a noble family. The Fawarins, Calvin's family, unbeknownst to him.

Does she manage to charm Uvanali?Yes, but...It is not a firm hold, and she has to reroll each time she has to convince her of something.

Such imprisonment could cause deep psychic wounds and over time lead to physical decay.

"Ah, and who is this?" the nymph woman practically purred when she saw Calvin approach, and Calvin felt his knees shake. She put a hand on the his arm as if to steady him, but it felt like the marrow was being sucked out of his bones.

His mouth was dry when he answered and he stammered out "C-Calvin" before he could stop himself.

Uvanali raised her eyebrows at him before turning to the nymph and telling her wryly, "His name is Gaeleath Fawarin, Leuce Go easy on him, he's a changling. His brains are half turned by living among the humans already."

Abruptly Calvin's mind cleared and suddenly the woman before him, Leuce, while still attractive, no longer seemed transcendental. When she released his arm he noticed that her touch actually seemed to leave a rather nasty red rash.

"So what are you doing here, Leuce? Last I saw you, you were well on your way to leading a platoon of very happy Tinkerbells to their deaths."

"There have been some difficulties keeping the prisoners compliant. The crown want workers to turn this place into a colony, but we really don't have enough forces to guard them. But, as you know, I am very good at, er, motivating people." Leuce laughed, and winked at Calvin, who just wrinkled his brow in confusion.

Uvanali just stared at her for a moment, and Calvin could swear that he saw her eyes cloud over. "Then we should get our prisoner and leave quickly so we don't disrupt your operation here. The fewer distractions, the better hold Leuce can get on her victims." The last statement directed at Calvin was punctuated by Uvanali with an uncharacteristic grin, and an arm around her shoulder. Even her rat seemed unusual friendly towards Leuce, sniffing her like she was a piece of moldy cheese.

Clearly Uvanali was under Leuce's spell, but Calvin couldn't understand why she would want to manipulate her. Remembering what Uvanali had done to that dwarf, Pebblefall, he couldn't bring himself to care. He had to stop Leuce from controlling all of these other people. Pebblefall hadn't been the first to die because of his failure to act, he thought bitterly, but perhaps he could prevent this.

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How does Calvin react to the people being under thrall?Calvin tries to trick her. Maybe by pretending to be more under the spell than he is. But it also says Brave and warlike, so maybe he actually battles with her later

Does he resist her attempt?Yes, but...he tells her his human name

Does Leuce stop trying to manipulate him?Yes

Where does Uvanali know her from?Giant barracks, they may have served together?